Seasonal Gifting

Tis the season for gift giving and my daughter Nikki and I devised a way for me to give away my entire backlist. Yep, that's right, the ENTIRE backlist. In addition, since I didn't have enough books to give away a book a day during December, I asked some friends to help me out. Now, I'm giving away books every day for 30 days. THIRTY. Starting today, the day after Thanksgiving and going through all the way to Christmas Day when I'll give away the entire series (to date) of Christmas Cowboys short stories.

See, Nikki and I thought about all the nice fan mail I get and the comments on blogs and in chats and on loops. People are usually pretty nice to me. They don't have to be. They can just read my stuff and move on. No one has to go out of their way to speak up and tell an author that they loved their book. But people DO. And in this age of instant gratification and out of sight out of mindness, I appreciate the time and effort it takes for someone to tell me they liked my work. Now, it's my turn to tell all of YOU that I appreciate you.

My way of appreciating readers is to give you more to read. And give you things to read that don't cost you anything except a few minutes to read a blog post and post a comment. Think of it as my way of participating in seasonal gifting. I'll be gifting 30 people with books that are the effort of my hard work as well as the hard work of some very talented authors who appreciate their readers just as much as I do.

This is also a neat way of introducing my readers to authors who may be new to them. Maybe someone has heard of Jennifer Leeland but never read one of her BDSM themed books. Maybe they want to, but never got around to getting one. Or maybe they never thought about picking up one of Selena Illyria's IR books. Or something M/M by Z.A. Maxfield. Or one of Regina Carlysle's shifters. These books span the genres from romance to spooky dark tales, from M/F to M/M, from contemporary to paranormal, from sweet to erotic. There's something here for everyone.

And it is all my gift to you this holiday season. With a little help from my friends. :)

My daughter thought it would be a neat tradition for me to do this every year now. Businesses send out holiday cards. Families and friends exchange gifts. I am going to give readers an escape from holiday stress. The chance to escape into a book. I like the idea of making the 30 Days of Christmas into a Lex Valentine tradition. It makes me feel warm and happy inside to be able to join together with my friends and give something back to readers.

Now, I'd like to see all of you take this idea and run with it. Oh, not give away books (don't want anyone to be a pirate!), but maybe get together with some friends and pool your talent, time and/or money and do something nice for someone who isn't expecting it. Working together to make something happen can be its own reward sometimes. The satisfaction you receive will make you feel as if you're the one who has been given a gift.

I know that I am excited to do this and not one of the 30 posts I'll have to prepare will be a chore. I cannot wait to read the happy exclamations of the winners. I think I'm as excited as a five-year old on Christmas Eve. And I can totally relate to the old adage that it is better to give than to receive.

So come on by the Lex Valentine blog over the next 30 days and maybe you can win a book. I know I will be more than happy to give you one should I draw your name from the comments.

Wishing you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons.